Any mechanic who suggests you buy a new car
because your spark plug is broken is running a scam and definitely
doesn’t have your best interest at heart. The same can be said for our
modern markets.
Say what you will about capitalism today - it has its
issues big and small - but, it has also been the engine of incredible
change and wealth generation for all classes of society. Naturally,
nothing is perfect and talks about improvements occur, and should be
encouraged.
However, anybody who suggests a full replacement of the system because of problems here and there definitely doesn’t know what they’re talking about, and probably have some ulterior motive, like a bad mechanic.
Any honest person hoping for a better world will admit there are problems with today’s markets beyond typical crony capitalism. But, the mistake comes in suggesting a complete replacement of the engine when all we might need is just a tune-up.
I consider myself an honest man, and the problem I see is that modern markets have evolved to become Capitalist Feudalism (a term I made up for this piece, thank you). And, if you’re familiar with how feudalism works, I hope you would agree.
You can't use the internet anywhere without bowing to Comcast.
You can't analyze data or have any presence online without paying homage to Google.
You can't have a social presence without submitting to Facebook.
You can't sell anything without dealing with Amazon.
And that's just for individuals. Imagine how much more hard it becomes to operate as a company.
The fact that companies, governments and people have to defer to these companies in order to conduct business, access sites using equipment that doesn't actually belong to them, and surrender their personal data and security in order to post pictures of their kids, does not sound like a free society to me.
And for companies, that’s not competition, it's feudalism.
Something needs to be done. If left unchecked, I foresee a world in which we wake up in our Amazon beds, eat our Google cereal, ride in our Facebook cars to our Amazon jobs and pay our Google taxes to pay for Comcast infrastructure.
Really though, the problem isn't really with the markets (naturally, these companies will want to grow and absorb others to maximize profits; it’s in their nature). But, it's with those who support the current status quo, or support the current form of the markets, because the only suggestion coming from the opposition is a complete engine replacement.
Let’s get on the same page, please?
Can we recognize that capitalism has created the greatest growth of wealth never before possible?
Can we recognize that there are problems inherent in the system?
Can we agree that recognizing those problems and wanting to address them means we do not want to buy a whole new car?
Can I argue that breaking them up would be a good thing for the world, without being called a socialist?
To quote Scott Galloway from L2inc, “We don’t break them up because they’re evil […] we don’t break them up because they avoid taxes […] we don’t break them up because they destroy jobs […] we break them up because we are capitalists.”
(This article appeared originally on thelatest.com)
However, anybody who suggests a full replacement of the system because of problems here and there definitely doesn’t know what they’re talking about, and probably have some ulterior motive, like a bad mechanic.
Any honest person hoping for a better world will admit there are problems with today’s markets beyond typical crony capitalism. But, the mistake comes in suggesting a complete replacement of the engine when all we might need is just a tune-up.
I consider myself an honest man, and the problem I see is that modern markets have evolved to become Capitalist Feudalism (a term I made up for this piece, thank you). And, if you’re familiar with how feudalism works, I hope you would agree.
You can't use the internet anywhere without bowing to Comcast.
You can't analyze data or have any presence online without paying homage to Google.
You can't have a social presence without submitting to Facebook.
You can't sell anything without dealing with Amazon.
And that's just for individuals. Imagine how much more hard it becomes to operate as a company.
The fact that companies, governments and people have to defer to these companies in order to conduct business, access sites using equipment that doesn't actually belong to them, and surrender their personal data and security in order to post pictures of their kids, does not sound like a free society to me.
And for companies, that’s not competition, it's feudalism.
Something needs to be done. If left unchecked, I foresee a world in which we wake up in our Amazon beds, eat our Google cereal, ride in our Facebook cars to our Amazon jobs and pay our Google taxes to pay for Comcast infrastructure.
Really though, the problem isn't really with the markets (naturally, these companies will want to grow and absorb others to maximize profits; it’s in their nature). But, it's with those who support the current status quo, or support the current form of the markets, because the only suggestion coming from the opposition is a complete engine replacement.
Let’s get on the same page, please?
Can we recognize that capitalism has created the greatest growth of wealth never before possible?
Can we recognize that there are problems inherent in the system?
Can we agree that recognizing those problems and wanting to address them means we do not want to buy a whole new car?
Can I argue that breaking them up would be a good thing for the world, without being called a socialist?
To quote Scott Galloway from L2inc, “We don’t break them up because they’re evil […] we don’t break them up because they avoid taxes […] we don’t break them up because they destroy jobs […] we break them up because we are capitalists.”
(This article appeared originally on thelatest.com)
